Unloading and reclaiming elevator



Jan. 9, 1923. 1,441,249

H. K. SMITH. UNLOADING AND Rzcuumus ELEVATOR.

FILED Aus. 24, I921. 5 SHEETS'SHEET 1 12 30622757 mm/oiii/smrw Jan. 9, 1923. 1,441,249

' H. K. SMITH.

UNLOADING AND Rscuummc ELEVATOR;

FILED AUG. 24, 192]. 5 SHEETS'SHEET 4 Jan. 9, 1923. 1,441,249

H. K. SMITH; UNLOADINGI AND Rec MING ELE ATOR.

FILED Auc. 1921. 5 SHEETS-SHEET 5 Patented Jan. 9, 1923.

fi i' t iii A nane "at sins.

HAROLD K. SMII TH, 01E CH ICAG'O, I'LLINO'I'S.

UNLOADING Ann RECLAIMING ELEVATOR.

Application filed August 24, 1921. Serial no. 495,075.

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, HAROLD K. Snrrn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county 0:6 Cook. and State of Illinois,

have invented. a certain new and useful U11 loading and Reclaiming Elevator, of which the following 1s a specification.

My invention relates'more particularly to a new and useful elevator intended and adapted for unloading bulk inaterialsuch as coal, ore, crushed stone, etc, from boats, barges, railroadcars, trucks and the like and delivering it to cars, boats, trucks, storage pile, pit or bins, and to reclaim such mate- 2 reclaims rial from the storage pile, pit or bins and reload into boat's, barges, railroad cars and the like, as desired.

It is the object of iny invention to provide an apparatus of this class which unloads 0r continuously While in operation rather than intermittently, as with the fOli'liS new on the market, and thereby afford a much greatercapacity than any of the forms now in use. With the forms now in general use, one large bucket supported by niachinery of enormous Weight travels backand forth and up and down with 'everybucket or" material there is a very decided disadvantage in this construction for it necessarily calls for large and expensive motors to take care of the high power peakscoincident upon acceleration and, deceleration with a large mass of moving parts, whereas with invention, by eliminating entirelysuch parts inuch smaller and cheaper motors can and will produce a very much larger capacity. i

Another object of my inventionis to provide a device of this class with digging means so designed as to positively and automatically feed. into the material being moved, that is, being unloaded orreclaimed.

A. further object is to provide a device of understood as illustrative onlyp and not as defining the limitsjoi my invention.

Figure l is an cleva'tion'al View of a d" ce embodying one form of m invention slieiv-- ing it applied to a travelling bridge, a portlon of the bridge being broken L Figure 2 is an enlarged 'elevational 'vie w of the same, partly in section,

Figure 3 is a verticalse ctional vi "3v, taken on the line 3+3oi Figure 2 and looking "in p l e On indicated the arroivs.

Flgure 4 1s a horizontal sectional view taken on the line l -4 fFigureQ.

Figure 5 is a horizontalfsectionfl view taken on line 5+5 of Figure2. 1 I Fig re 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6 -6 of Figure 2. a i

Fig re? is an enlarged elevational view partly in section, of a siinilfa'r .devicefl'enb bodying a modified form or the feeding mechanism. I

Figure 8 is a vertical sectional vieii' taken on the line 88 of Figure 7.

Figure Q is a horizontalsectional view taken on the line 9- 901 Figure 7.

In general, the structure shoivn as I em... bodying my invention, consists of two 'or more opposed digging bucket'elevators 'pivoted about their respectivehead shafts to a head piece structure 1 which in turn suspended by inea ns of a eabienemtl ina'in carriage mounted on a suitable' traveling bridge or tower, ivith a variablyinclined" less conveyor or conveyors connecting a a hopper suspended from an au'xili wearriage on the traveling Bridge, designed and adapted to carry the material fromthe hea-d piece to the point of deposit and motors, throughsuitable operative 'msii ro ing and lowering tlie e'ntfire I'neohanisn and for operating the bucketconveyors i orcing them to gradually feed toward each otherand dig into the material being moved.

lVhile my invention illustrated tlieaccompanying drawings, is sho'iv'n applied toa travelingbridge, it'is, of course, to be under stood that it may be applied to a stationary bridge, or other superstructure. "ive ver, referring to the drawings ,indeta the traveling bridge is indicated as .a \vhole the reference character 10, ivh l1 bridge is provided With the; usual legs equipped vvitli suitable motor driven tru'cl'zs 01 traveling on the tracks as S own. 'Tlre bridge lO'is provided with a swinging to which boom ber'ais'edor'lovtered hj'cts,

tomary way through the cable 12 operated by a motor in the operators cab 13. The swinging boom as also the bridge, is provided with the usual track or rails. lll'ounted to travel on the swinging boom is a main carriage 1e electrically driven. Suspended from the main carriage by means of a cable 15 is a head piece 16 which head piece and its attached parts hereinafter to be described may be raised or lowered as desired through the cable 15 by means of a suitable electric motor 17' mounted on the main carriage and operatively connected to the drum 18 through suitable gears as best shown in dotted line in Figure 1.

Pivot-ally connected to the head piece near its inner lower portion is a variably inclined endless conveyor 19 which conveyor is at its opposite end pivotally connected to the hopper 20. The hopper 20 is suspended by means of a suitable cable from the auxiliary carriage 21 in such a manner as to be raised and lowered as desired by an electric motor or other suitable means not shown. The auxiliary carriage is designed and adapted to travel back and forth'on the bridge as desired. Mounted in the frame work of the bridge is a horizontal endless conveyor 22 for carrying away the material discharged thereon from the hopper 20.

The head piece 16 is provided with sides, ends and top, and in this respect may be termed a housing. Pivotally mounted on the head shafts 2a and 25 in the-head piece 1.6 are two endless bucket conveyors 26 and 27 which travel over comparatively small gears 28 and 29 fast to their respective shafts, while their opposite ends travel over idlers 30 and 31 rotatably mounted within the easings 32 near the lower ends thereof, the upper ends of said casings are pivotally mounted on their respective head shafts as best shown in Figure 2.

Mounted in the upper portion of the head piece 16 on the supporting member 33 is a main motor 34: for driving the bucket conveyors 26 and 27. These conveyors are opcratively connected to the main motor through the following gear arrangement. The armature ot' the motor 34; is provided with a small gear which gear is in mesh with and drives a comparatively large gear 36 fast on a stub shaft rotatably mounted in the bearing 37 which stub shaft carries on its outer end a comparatively small gear 38 which small. gear is in mesh with and drives a comparatively large gear 39 on the head shaft 24-. The gear 39 is in mesh with and drives a similar gear 40 on the head. shaft From this it will be seen that when the motor is operated, it will, through the gear arrangement just described, drive the bucket conveyors in the proper direction and cause them to pick up the material desired to be moved on their upward travel and that they are travxeling upwardly on the inside instead of the outside. The latter feature is desirable, not only because it insures better load- 2g of the buckets, but it also eliminates entirely any possibility of the buckets digging or ripping into the side of the boat, bin or other vessel from which the material is being moved. The material is carried upwardly on the inside of the conveyors by means of the buckets and over the upper ends from where it is thrown out as the buckets come around on to a two-way deflector or chute 4C1, down which it slides to two horizontal endless conveyors 42 and 43 positioned on either side of the bucket conveyors within the head piece 16. The endless conveyors 12 and 4L3 travel over the rollers fixed to shafts 44 and i5 rotatably mounted in the head piece 16. The shaft ll is provided with a small sprocket 46 which is driven by asprocket 4J'on the head shaft 25 through the sprocket chain 18. The conveyors 12 and 43 travel from left to right and thus convey the material to the inner lower edge of the head piece 16 where it is dumped into a chute 49 and carried thereby down on to the variably inclined conveyor 19 by means of which it is carried to the hopper 2i) and discharged. therefrom on to the horizontal conveyor 22 and taken away to the desired place.

In order to positively cause the conveyors to feed at all times gradually into the material being moved and thus insure the buckets being; properly loaded to their capacity I have provided a feeding mechai'iism. Two modifications beingillustrated in the accompanying drawings 1 will now describe the preferred form. lVithin the head piece 16 there is mounted on the supporting member 33 an auxiliary motor 50 which might correctly be termed a feeding motor as it operates the feeding mechanism. Fast tov the armature of this auxiliary motor is a small gear 51 which in turn is in mesh with and drives a comparatively large gear 52 fast to a shaft rotatably mounted in the bracket or hearing 52 which shaft on its opposite end is provided wit-h a comparatively small gear 53 which is in mesh with and. drives a coniparatively lai -e gear 5 1: fixed to the shalt 55 mounted in the bearing 56. The shaft 55 has fixed thereto by any suitable i'ueans, near its ends, beveled gears 57 which gears are in .i'uesh with and drive the beveled ears lixcd to the upper end oi the shafts 59. The shafts 59 extend downwardly as best shown in. Figures 1. 2 and 3 to a point about intermediate the ends of the conveyor casings. The shafts 59 are at their lower ends provided with a worm screw 60 which screw is in mesh with and drives the worm wheels 61 fixed to the screw threaded shafts 62 which shafts near each end thereof passes through andco-operates in Figure 6. Through this feeding mechanism it will be readily seen that the ,two

, bucket conveyors are caused to positively The small gear 51 on the armature of the and gradually feed into the material as it is carried away. In other words, during the main movement of the buckets upwardly they are being forced slightly but positively into the material and toward each other as the conveyor operation is carried on. This feature is highly desirable for with it material can be removed from bins, boats and other vessels without the necessity of menu.- ally moving the material from different points to the foot of the elevator so that it can be picked up. lVith my invention the material is forced from thesides and ends, toward-the center so that it can be picked up and carried away. By reversing the motor the conveyors are moved away from each other.

In describing my invention thus far, particularly as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I have referred in detail to the gearing arrangement for operating the feeding mechanism. I shall now describe the other form which is operated through cables and best illustrated in Figures 7', 8, and 9. The same auxiliary motor is utilized.

motor is in mesh with and drives a comparatively large gear 64- fixed tothe shaft 65 which sh aft is rotatably mounted at one end in one side of the headpiece 16 and at its opposite end in the bearing or bracket 66 which bracket is mounted on the supporting -member 33 within the head piece 16. The shaft has fixed thereto between the bracket 66 and the large gear 64. a comparatively small gear 67 which small gear is in mesh with and drives a comparatively large gear 68 fixed tothe' drum shaft 69 which drum shaft is rotatably mounted inbearings fixed to the head piece 16 in the inner upper portion thereof. On the shaft 69 is fixed thereto four drums, 70, 71, 72fand 7 3. Each of the drums and 73 are provided with separate cables designed to be wound and unwound therefrom, which cables leave their respective drums from the upper side and pass over suitable sheaves 74E rotatably mounted within the head piece 16 on the supporting member 33. thence downwardly under the sheaves 7 5 on the right hand conveyor casing 32 thence across and around the sheaves 76 on the opposite conveyor casing, thence across and around the sheave 70 back to the opposite casing where they are secured by any suitable means; such for example as the loop or eye shown. hen the motor is operating inone direction the cables are caused to wind on.

the drums TO and 73, thus forcing the bucket conveyors gradually anc positively toward each other and into the material being moved. For drawing the conveyors apart, whenever it is desired,for instance, starting to remove a new pile or for any other reason, I have provided the drums 71 and 72- with suitable cables. The cables from the drums 71 and 72 pass overthe sheaves 77 thence downwardly between the rollers 78- around the pulleys 79, anchored to the casings 32,1119 over the pulley '80 and back to the eye 61 where they are anchored. The cable from the drum 72 leaves the drum from the under side while the cable from the drum 71 leaves from the upper side. Prom -this arrangement it will be readily seen that all that is necessary when it is desired to move the bucket conveyors apart is to reverse the auxiliary motor whereupon the releasing cables are wound on their respective drums whilethe feeding cables are unwound.

Likewise, when the conveyors are being forced together for the purpose of causing the buckets to dig into the material the feedingcables are being wound on their respective drums. while at thesame time the releasing cables are being unwound. The m0- tors, if desired, may be controlled through any suitable arrangen'ient by the operator in the cab on the bridge. VVith'in the head piece 16 are provided adjacent the endless conveyors 42 and 43 upstanding guards 82 to keep the material on the conveyors and away from the gearing and other parts of the apparatus.

Having thus described my inventioiu'l claim i 1. In a device of the class described,th'e combination of plurality of opposed bucket conveyors and positive means for drawing said conveyors toward and from each other,

substantially as and for-the purposes set forth.

2. In a device of the class described, the" combination of a supporting structure, a

member suspended therefrom, a plurality of opposed conveyors pivotally mounted on said member and positive means for drawing said conveyors toward and from each other.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a superstructure, a carriage designed to travel thereon, a member suspended therefrom, a plurality of opposed to said headpiece, a motor mounted in said 6 head piece and operatively connected with said conveyors for driving the same, an auxiliary motor mounted in said head piece, and operativeiy connected in a manner to draw said conveyors to and from each other and means within said head piece for carrying the material from said conveyors to a discharging point.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination of a bridge, a carriage designed to travel thereon, a vertically adjustable head piece suspended fro said traveling carriage. a motor on said carriage ior raising and lowering said head piece, a plurality of conveyors pivotally mounted on said head piece, a variably inclined conveyor pivotally connected to said head piece and means mounted in said head piece for conveying material from said first mentioned conveyors to said variably inclined conveyor; l

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of a head piece, opposed conveyors pivotally connected to said head piece,

a motor opcratively connected with said conveyors for driving the same, an auxilia'y motor operatively connected 111 a manner to draw said conveyers to and from each other and means for carrying"; the material From said conveyors to a discharging point.

7. In a device of the class described, tie combination of a superstructure, a carriage mounted thereon, a head piece adjustably suspended from said carriage, means for raisii'ig and lowering said head piece, op-

posed conveyors pivotally connected to said head piece, a variably inclined conveyor pivotally connected to said head piece, a hopper suspended from said superstructnre and adapted to receive the material. from said inclined conveyor and means for conveying the material from said first mentioned conveyors to said variably inclined conveyors.

8. In adevioe of the class described, the combination of bridge, a carriage designed to travel thereon, head piece adjustably suspresence of two witnesses.

- it dd- 1 23 d9 pended from said carriage, a motor onsaid carriage for raising and lowering said head piece, opposed bucket conveyors pivotally mounted on said head piece, a motor mounted on said head piece for driving said conveyors, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

in a device of the class described, the combination of a superstructure, a head piece adjustably suspended therefrom, a variably inclined conveyer pivotally (former-ted to said head piece, opposed digging: conveyors pivotally connected to said head piece, means for conveying; the material from said digging conveyors to said variably inclined conveyors and means for operating: said conveyors.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of opposed bucket conveyors and positive means for drawing said conveyors toward and "from each other, said means comprising a screw-threaded bearing secured to the frame work of said conveyors, a screw-threaded shaft adapted to cooperate therewith, a worm on said shaft, a second shaft provided with a gear adapted to cooperate with said worm gear and means for driving said last mentioned shaft.

11. In a. device of the class described, the combination of a plurality of opposed buckct conveyors and positive means for drawinc said, conveyors toward and from each other, said ma s comprising a pluralit; of cables so connected and operated by a drum as to draw said conveyors apart and a second set'ot cables so connected and operated as to draw said conveyors toward each other, substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to this specification in the HAROLD 1.. SMITH. VYitnesses CLARENCE J. Lora ne, H. M. SMITH. 

